Titans of the Ice Age: The Woolly Mammoth vs Elephant size Comparison

Woolly Mammoth vs Elephant Size Comparison: The Woolly Mammoth vs Elephant: Single-celled prokaryotes are the first living organisms ever to swim in this planet’s ocean. Then, as time passed, many organisms evolved and made their own kingdom. One of them is the animal kingdom.

Animal Kingdom has witnessed the presence of many incredible species like dinosaurs, Japanese sea lions, dodos, coelacanths, et al. The woolly mammoth has also created a space for itself among these species. The Woolly Mammoth is an extinct species of mammoth that roamed around the Earth in the Middle Pleistocene until its extinction in the Holocene epoch. It was first found in Africa, and then it diverged to Siberia. 

Woolly Mammoth’s closest relative to existing to date is? Can you guess? Yes, it’s the Asian elephant. Both of these giants stand out for their humongous size and for creating an impressionable image in the minds of the human species. Although these two titans have fascinating differences, they definitely share the same ancestry. And that’s what makes their appearance somewhat alike.

Hence, in this article, you will read about these colossal herbivores, their gigantic sizes, their origins, and their adapting ability, enabling them to survive in vastly different environments.

The Woolly Mammoth vs Elephant: Evolution and Origin

Mammuthus primigenius, or the Woolly Mammoth, is associated with the family Mammuthus, which originated in Africa around 6 million years ago. Then, they gradually started migrating from the African continent to Europe and North America, allowing their bodies to adapt to the cold climatic conditions. Around 400K years ago, these mammoths reached the icy plains of Siberia and Alaska.

On the other hand, if we talk about the elephants, their genealogy can be traced back to the Moeritherium, a group of ancient mammals that lived about 50 million years ago. With time, these weirdly named creatures evolved into early elephants who bore shovel-like tusks. 6 million years ago, the first actual elephants from the genus Elephas appeared on the African subcontinent. After that, they began modifying themselves into various species, with African and Asian elephants existing only 7 million years ago.

Even though elephants are not direct descendants of the woolly mammoths, the giants share a common ancestor. This answers the question of their size, homogeneity, herbivorous food diet, and trunk structure. However, their common ancestry did not help them adapt to similar environmental conditions.

The Woolly Mammoth vs Elephants: Size of the Giants

It’s frightening even to imagine a creature like Woolly Mammoth, whose height is 14 feet “at the shoulder with tusks reaching up to 16 feet in length.” Their average weight is around 12–13 tons, making them some of the largest land mammals ever to have walked the Earth. They were covered in thick layers of fur, which provided them insulation from the Arctic’s jarring climatic conditions. Furthermore, smaller ears and a shorter tail lessened the chances of heat loss, a critical bodily feature for survival in frigid and rigid surroundings.

Modern elephants appear humongous but are considerably smaller than their mammoth counterparts. The largest land mammals alive today are from the African bush elephant animal kingdom. They weigh around 6 tons. Their height goes up to 3.9 meters. If we look at Asian elephants, they are smaller than African bush elephants. Asian male elephants weigh 4 tons and have a height of 2.9 meters. Interestingly, unlike mammoths, Asian and African male elephants are more significant than the female elephants of the same group.

But it is essential to keep in mind that these animals’ sizes were according to the surroundings they were living in. The woolly mammoth lived in harsh climates, and their body size helped them conserve their body heat. While the elephants lived in the hot climatic conditions, they could afford to differ in size.

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The Woolly Mammoth vs Elephants: Adaptation Technique for Survival

Woolly mammoths were endowed with a digestive system specialized for processing cellulose-enriched fibrous grasses and shrubs that dominated the Arctic’s tundra region. They depended on grasses, sedges, and shrubs to fill their stomachs. Their teeth, specialized in grinding, known as hypsodont molars, kept growing to compensate for their abrasive diet.” Also, their thick fur and a layer of subcutaneous fat provided them with immense insulation to sustain the extreme cold of the Arctic.

Now, if we look at the elephants, we see that they developed their food processing and digesting techniques according to the warm conditions of the African and Asian landscapes. Their strong trunks are of various uses. It helps them grasp their food, spray water on their bodies for cooling, and, most often, communicate. Their thick skin protects them from thick thorns and various insect bites. An interesting fact about elephants is that their society is matriarchal, and they live in matriarchal herds, obviously led by female elephants.

The Woolly Mammoth vs Elephants: The Mysterious Disappearance of the former

In spite of the Woolly Mammoth’s impressive adaptations, they could not dodge their extinction. The exact cause of their extinction is still debatable, but we can say that a combination of factors played a role in the extinction of the woolly mammoth giants. Loss of their habitat due to the melting of the glaciers, changes in the climatic conditions, and human beings might have hunted them.

The last woolly mammoths existed 10,000 years ago on the mainland of Eurasia. They are believed to have died on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean around 4,000 years ago. Fossil remains, scientific research, and even DNA extracted from frozen carcasses are helping scientists put together stories about their lives. The existence of the woolly mammoth serves as a reminder of the power of adaptation and the ever-evolving nature of our planet’s ecosystem.

Elephants, conversely, came out to be victorious in the survival of the fittest quest. Though they have survived the challenges of nature, they continue to face various challenges. The biggest challenge that surfaces when the topic of conservation of elephants occurs is the poaching of their ivory tusks by the poachers. Then, these tusks are illegally smuggled around the various countries. Habitat loss is another major issue for elephants’ survival. With constant infrastructure, buildings, and developments, forests are being cut. This deforestation is leading to elephants constantly shifting their places. During this shift, many elephants even lose their lives due to dehydration and the unavailability of food.

The Woolly Mammoth vs Elephants: The Social Species

Elephants are said to be social animals. They live in herds led by female elephants. They communicate through their trunks by vocalizing, touching, and producing infrasound (sound waves below the range of human hearing). Elephants are known for their memory, problem-solving abilities, intelligence, etc. Whenever any elephant dies in a herd, other elephants mourn its death.

While irrefutable evidence of mammoths being a social species is limited, some theories suggest that they also might have lived in herds similar to those of elephants. Archaeologists have found fossils of various mammoths in one place, pointing towards potential group living. These herds might have been matriarchal like their counterparts, elephants. Their herd head might have also been experienced females who must have guided and protected them. They might have communicated trumpeting and low rumbles, but the substantial shreds of evidence are still unknown.

Feature	Woolly Mammoth	Elephant
Size	Larger (up to 4 meters tall)	Smaller (up to 4 meters tall)
Fur	Thick, shaggy coat for warmth	Sparse or no fur
Ears	Smaller to reduce heat loss	Larger for heat regulation
Tusks	Longer, more curved	Shorter, straighter
Diet	Grasses, sedges, shrubs, and possibly trees and shrubs	Grasses, leaves, fruits, and bark of trees
Adaptation for Diet	Grinding teeth for rough plants	Broad molars for grinding plants